Miami-Dade fines father of boy, 4, killed by dogs; photos of dogs released

Javon Dade Sr., the father of the 4-year-old boy mauled to death Wednesday by family dogs including a pit bull, has been fined $1,040 by Miami-Dade Animal Services.

The dogs involved in killing Javon Dade Jr. were not appropriately licensed or up-to-date on their rabies shots, according to animal services. Also, pit bulls are illegal in Miami-Dade County.

Police were called to the scene by Javon’s family after they realized he was missing Wednesday morning. Twenty minutes later, officers found the boy’s mauled body outside his home.

One or more of the family’s six dogs — two adult female terrier-boxer mixes, an adult male pit bull and three terrier-boxer mixed puppies between two and four months of age — were involved, police said.

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Answers about which, and how many, of the dogs were involved in Javon’s death are still pending. No charges have yet been filed in the investigation, which is being conducted jointly by Miami-Dade police, animal services and the county attorney’s office. If one or more of the dogs are confirmed as being responsible, they will be destroyed, according to Kathy Labrada, chief of shelter operations and enforcement.

None of the dogs on Dade Sr.’s property had their rabies shots or were licensed, according to Labrada. Because two of the dogs were too young — 2 and 4 months old, respectively — to have to be licensed or get their shots, Javon Dade Sr. was only cited for failure to vaccinate against rabies for three of the dogs, and for failure to license two of the dogs. There is no duty to license a pit bull since it is against the law to own one.

As part of an ongoing investigation, the dogs are currently being held in a restricted area by Miami-Dade Animal Services, according to Lilian Bohorquez, marketing and communications manager at Miami-Dade county.

Animal Services had not received any complaints at the Dade family’s address, which they had just moved to in June, according to Bohorquez. The dogs “generally appear to be in fair physical condition,” Lebrada said.

Kenneth Narbin, who rented the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in the Silver Palm Park section of Goulds to the Dade family, told Miami Herald news partner CBS 4 that he had recently threatened the tenants with eviction unless they got rid of the dogs.

In the day since Javon Dade Jr. was killed, a small shrine has emerged by the backyard: two bouquets of flowers and several small stuffed animals leaning against the chain link fence around the backyard where the child died.

The stuffed bear that he was reportedly playing with before he died was still in the yard as of Thursday.